My father has spoken about my mental illness to people he has met in his line of work (not the medical or psychological field or anything to do with mental health). I first found out he was doing this when he suggested a treatment provider that someone had recommended to him for me after he described my mental illness to them. I then asked him to stop discussing my mental illness with third parties without my permission. I said it was a boundry that people with mental illness have a right to set. He got angry and claimed he was right to do it because he was trying to help me by getting an opinion from this person.

Now years later, I have overheard him doing it again. He was discussing my mental illness with someone whom I know would have absolutely no valuable input to provide on the matter. I objected, saying that I was within my reasonable rights to not want to be talked about behind my back. He got angry again, told me to "lighten up", and said that I was exhibiting a weakness. He bizarrely tried to defend himself by admitting that he talks about me to people without my knowledge all the time (even after I asked him to stop years ago). He said that it doesn't matter because these people don't know me.

Is he right? Obviously I can't control what he does. But I would imagine that any doctor/therapist/counselor would say that what he is doing is wrong and a breach of trust and privacy. Doesn't his insistence that he has every right to discuss my mental illness without my consent and that I need to just suck it up if I don't like it show that he doesn't know much about mental illness in the first place?